The Wheel of Time, #5
The Fires of Heaven
by Robert Jordan
Contents
43 This Place, This Day
Overview
Before dawn, Rand yields to the Maidens’ protection and ascends a tower, where he, Egwene, and Aviendha use the Power to shatter Shaido positions with storm and fire. Meanwhile, Mat stumbles into a Shaido ambush set for Tairen and Cairhienin forces, takes command on the fly, forms a defensive square, coordinates with Talmanes, and launches a timely counterattack.
The chapter pivots the battle: Rand commits his power openly while Mat unwillingly steps into generalship, saving allied troops and tightening the noose on Couladin’s Shaido.
Summary
Restless before dawn, Rand reviews the coming bloodshed and receives the Aiel chiefs’ final reports. Lan questions Rand’s choice to wear a sword, warning him against seeking Couladin. Outside, Sulin and a mass of Maidens insist on carrying Rand’s honor and escorting him, with Egwene and Aviendha, to the tower; Rand grudgingly agrees.
At the tower, Egwene and Aviendha begin weaving a localized storm, driving wind, thunder, and precision lightning onto Shaido positions near Cairhien. Rand seizes saidin and adds overwhelming fire, melting hilltops and battering enemy ground despite the strain of Lews Therin’s intrusive memories. Together, their strikes are intended to unnerve and break the Shaido before the clans fully engage.
Elsewhere, Mat tries to slip south but spots a hidden Shaido ambush poised to destroy a Tairen-led column. Against his intent to flee, Mat gallops in, halts the Tairens, and orders the pikemen under Daerid to form a hollow square once through a gap, while holding the Tairen cavalry inside.
Mat then coordinates with Talmanes and the Cairhienin horse, splitting the force to time a relief attack. As Daerid’s square endures relentless Shaido assaults, undisciplined Tairen lordlings charge piecemeal and die, including Melanril. Mat and Talmanes hit the Shaido from both flanks, collapsing their rear just as lightning begins to strike the battlefield.
The combined effect of Rand’s storm and Mat’s improvised generalship stabilizes the front and turns the engagement, signaling that Couladin’s Shaido are being driven toward defeat.
Who Appears
- Rand al’ThorCar’a’carn; accepts Maiden escort to the tower; channels devastating fire on Shaido positions alongside Egwene and Aviendha.
- Matrim CauthonTries to leave but discovers an ambush; halts Tairen/Cairhienin, forms a pikeman square, coordinates with Talmanes, and leads a countercharge.
- Egwene al’VereChannels to raise a storm and precise lightning on Shaido; joins Rand and Aviendha from the tower.
- AviendhaInsists on aiding; channels with Egwene to strike the Shaido; accompanies Rand under Maiden protection.
- SulinMaiden leader who musters Far Dareis Mai to guard Rand; enforces their claim to carry his honor.
- Lan MandragoranWarns Rand against seeking Couladin; reports Moiraine’s plans to Heal during the battle.
- BaelClan chief; questions Rand’s orders for the Maidens and prepares for the battle’s outset.
- RhuarcClan chief; supports final preparations and notes Aiel acceptance of fate before battle.
- HanClan chief; dourly invokes fate and readiness as the Shaido showdown approaches.
- ErimClan chief; anticipates ending the Shaido threat, showing rare Aiel ebullience.
- Talmanes DelovindeCairhienin commander; coolly accepts Mat’s plan, takes half the horse, and strikes the Shaido’s rear.
- DaeridVeteran Cairhienin officer; forms the pikemen into a hollow square and holds under heavy assault.
- Melanril of House AsegoraReckless Tairen lordling; ignores discipline and dies in the melee.
- EsteanTairen lord who recognizes Mat; weary but compliant amid the battle preparations.